Current designs for biopsy guns for soft tissue applications use a cutting cannula to collect the tissue sample. The most commonly used method has the cannula sliding over a stable or retracting inner needle which contains a notch for collection of the tissue. The cannula is a hollow cylinder with a sharp leading edge. These designs are oriented toward solid soft tissues (e.g., liver, prostate) and tumors that arise from them.
Current methods and devices for obtaining soft tissue samples from hollow organs (e.g., stomach, intestines) require laparoscopy or laparotomy. These methods and devices often fail to collect the portions of interest in the target organ. In addition, these methods and devices have a high perforation rate, leading to patient injury and increased healing time. The following are incorporated by reference:    “Percutaneous endoscopically assisted transenteric full-thickness gastric biopsy: initial experience in humans.” Andrews C N, Mintchev P, Neshev E, Fraser H F, Storr M, Bathe O F, Urbanski S J. Gastrointest Endosc. 2011 May; 73(5):949-54. Epub 2011 Mar. 9.    “The London Classification of gastrointestinal neuromuscular pathology: report on behalf of the Gastro 2009 International Working Group.” Knowles C H, De Giorgio R, Kapur R P, Bruder E, Farrugia G, Geboes K, Lindberg G, Martin J E, Meier-Ruge W A, Milla P J, Smith V V, Vandervinden J M, Veress B, Wedel T. Gut. 2010 July; 59(7):882-7    “Absence of the interstitial cells of Cajal in patients with gastroparesis and correlation with clinical findings,” J Gastrointest Surg, 2005; 9(1):102-8, Forster J, Damjanov I, Lin Z, Sarosiek I, Wetzel P, McCallum R W.    “A deficiency of gastric interstitial cells of Cajal accompanied by decreased expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and substance P in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus,” J Gastroenterol, 2006; 41(11):1076-87, Iwasaki H, Kajimura M, Osawa S, Kanaoka S, Furuta T, Ikuma M, Hishida A.    “Distribution of interstitial cells of Cajal and nitrergic neurons in normal and diabetic human appendix,” Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2008; 20(4):349-57, Miller S M, Narasimhan R A, Schmalz P F, Soffer E E, Walsh R M, Krishnamurthi V, Pasricha P J, Szurszewski J H, Farrugia G.    “Remodeling of networks of interstitial cells of Cajal in a murine model of diabetic gastroparesis,” Diabetes, 2000; 49(10):1731-9, Ordog T, Takayama I, Cheung W K, Ward S M, Sanders K M.    “Diabetic gastroparesis,” N Engl J Med, 2007; 356(8):820-9, Camilleri M.    “Evaluation of endoscopic approaches for deep gastric-muscle-wall biopsies: what works?” Gastrointest Endosc, 2008; 67:297-303, Rajan E, Gostout C J, Lurken M S, et al.    “Endoscopic ‘no hole’ full-thickness biopsy of the stomach to detect myenteric ganglia,” Gastrointest Endosc, 2008; 68:301-7, Rajan E, Gostout C J, Lurken M S, et al.